Psychotic Disorders

Psychotic disorders are a less common type of mental health problem which causes people to lose touch with reality. This disorder inhibits a person’s ability to function day-to-day because of the severe changes in the way they feel, think, and behave:

What Causes Psychotic Disorders?

Since psychotic disorders are such a complex, mysterious illness, many factors are believed to influence its development including:

Family history

Brain chemicals – abnormal levels of dopamine in the brain

Stress – often a trigger to an episode among people who are vulnerable to the disorder

Other factors – head injury, brain development problems, etc.

Types of Psychotic Disorders

Schizophrenia

Because schizophrenia influences chemicals in the brain, people undergo changes in their mental functioning. Not everyone experiences schizophrenia in the same way; symptoms can develop over weeks, months, or years, occur in different combinations, and severities. Symptoms of schizophrenia are often described as either positive or negative.

POSITIVE SYMPTOMS

Feelings, thoughts, or behaviours that are not normally present in a person but have been added as a result of the disorder.

Types of symptoms:

Delusions – fixed, false beliefs that feel real despite evidence to the contrary (e.g., believing you’re on a special mission or under surveillance)

Hallucinations –

NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS

Thoughts, feelings, or behaviours which are normally present but are now lost or reduced (e.g., loss of drive to wash or eat)

Schizoaffective Disorder

When someone suffers from a combination of schizophrenia and a mood disorder, such as clinical depression or bipolar disorder, a person will experience delusions or hallucinations during a manic episode.

Psychotic Depression

When depression because so intense it can cause psychotic symptoms such as delusions of severe physical illness.

Substance-Induced Psychotic Disorder

Sometimes the use or withdrawal of a substance can bring on hallucinations or delusions which appear quickly and disappear once the effect of the drug wears off (i.e., a few hours or days).